(Reuters) – Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob said on Wednesday after testifying before a closed-door anti-graft commission that he rejected accusations of interferring in police staffing, which were brought against him by a former interior minister.
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) launched an investigation against Golob in November 2023 due to suspicions of integrity violations but suspended it over some technical obstacles only to re-launch it again.
Golob was accused by ex-Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar of putting pressure on her over some staff positions in the police. She reported him to the police and the prosecutor’s office and briefed the parliamentary investigative commission about the alleged pressure on her ministry.
“I gave all the explanations to the commission and completely denied and rejected all the accusations,” Golob told reporters after the testimony. “Now it’s time for evidence and witnesses,” he said, adding that all accusations were fabricated and false.
Before the testimony had begun, he said the proceedings were “truly a farce”.
“Today, I have to defend myself in front of the KPK solely because I stood for the de-politicisation of the police, which we already announced in the pre-election programme, and because we wanted the measures of the previous government, which wanted to subjugate the police, to be completely repealed,” he said.
The police has also filed a criminal complaint against Golob at the specialized state prosecutor’s office on suspicion of committing a crime of corruption, i.e “giving gifts for unlawful intermediation”.
The prosecutor’s office may dismiss the police charges or file its own indictment based on them and request a judicial investigation.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by David Evans)
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